


5 Times Coulson Almost Told Skye He Was Her Father (And the One Time He Did)

by Cinder



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-27
Updated: 2013-10-29
Packaged: 2017-12-30 14:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1020015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinder/pseuds/Cinder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye wants to find out the truth about her parents. Coulson wants to tell Skye that he is her father. Melinda wants to smack them both because all this family drama is giving her a stress headache. </p><p>Hints of Skyward and Coulson/Melinda.</p><p>This was given as a prompt on Tumblr by Master of Prompts. I thought it’d be fun to write.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Attempt #1 

“C’mon Skye!” Coulson turned her head from side to side, tapping her freezing cheek. As his hand make contact with her face, water spilled from her mouth. He wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her into a sitting position. Even more water fell from her mouth, but she didn’t stir. 

Coulson held his fingers, numb from the cold, into the side of her neck. It took a few minutes, but he finally found a pulse. He put his hand gently over her mouth and was reassured to feel a puff of warm air against his hand. 

“Coulson!” May had finally joined them. Her suit was ripped and she was bearing a nasty scratch down the side of her cheek. “Is she -”

“Pulse and breathing are there, but too slow.” Coulson rubbed Skye’s arms, wishing that he still had his suit jacket to give her, but he had took it off to dive into the water. “We need to get her warm or she’s going to get a lot worse.” He couldn’t help but notice that Skye’s breathing already looked more labored, and she still hadn’t opened her eyes. 

He heard May yelling at Ward, and into her communicator at Fitzsimmons. But his attention was focused on the younger woman leaning against his shoulder. He fought against the worry and panic he could feel trying to get through. Skye was nothing more than an agent right now. That was all she could be at the moment, or he would let loose all his fear and be no help to her whatsoever. 

He tried to force those thoughts through his head, but when she was unexpectedly grabbed from his arms, his hand went automatically to his gun. 

“Relax.” May said, grabbing his shoulder roughly, nails digging into his skin. It brought him back to his surroundings, and he realized that it was Ward who had Skye now, cradling her in his arms as he raced back to the Bus. Coulson relaxed slightly and got up. He noticed the inquisitive look from May, but he ignored it. He would deal with her suspicions later. Right now he had to make sure Skye was alright. 

*

“How long have you known?” May asked. Coulson didn’t look away from where Skye lay on the makeshift hospital bed Fitzsimmons had set up for her. She was hooked up to several monitors, so many wires in her that Coulson felt ill looking at them all. Simmons had reassured him that it was only to get her as warm as possible, that she wasn’t really in life threatening danger (anymore). Still, Coulson still didn’t like the sight of them. 

“How long have you suspected?” Coulson asked. He was grateful that May had at least chosen to have this conversation outside of the medical lab. They were alone, the glass window keeping the semi-conscious Skye from overhearing the conversation.

“When you let her stay on the Bus after the Miles incident.” May said. “You’ve always had a soft spot for the ‘hopeless’ cases, Coulson, but you were never...blinded by them.” She paused. “For a while, I thought you just had a crush on her like Ward or Fitz.”

Coulson snorted. “Thanks for that.” 

“How was I supposed to realize that she was your daughter? I thought it was an overly paranoid theory. I thought you couldn’t possibly keep that information from your team. At least until you dove into the water like some madman today.” May hissed, walking forward, forcing Coulson to look at her. “Now I have to ask you again: How long have you known?”

“Since before we first picked her up.”

“Shit.” May turned away, and Coulson couldn’t tell if she was disappointed or disgusted. He thought she looked a little hurt. “I thought you promised to let her live her life. Wasn't that the reason you gave her up in the first place?” 

“After New York - I started thinking about things differently. I wanted to know her, see if she was doing alright. Clearly she wasn’t, considering that she was broadcasting Rising Tide manifestos out of a van.”

“Was this entire thing - this entire operation -” May waved a hand around at the Bus, “was it all just some way so you could find your daughter?” 

“No.” Coulson said, irritated at her for thinking he’d abuse SHIELD privilege that way. “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. Go off the grid, run a small team, investigate matters my own way. New York gave me the clout to do that. Skye was just an added advantage. After I found her, I knew it was the right time to start.” 

May strode away, clearly too irritated to stay for any other questions. She paused for a moment at the door, glaring daggers at him. “She’s dedicated her whole life to finding you. When she finds out she’s been living with you on a plane for 7 months -”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. I need to make her trust me first.” 

“She’s trusted you since our first mission. Maybe not completely, but she started to. By putting this off, you’re not building her trust, you’re destroying it.” 

And with that May left. 

*

“Hey AC.” Skye’s eyes were slightly unfocused as Coulson walked up to her bedside. “Heard you dove into the water to save me. Even ruined one of your suits. That’s pretty badass.” 

“How are you feeling?”

“Fitzsimmons gave me a lot of drugs.” Skye grinned. “They feel good.” 

“I’m glad.” Coulson sat down next to her bed. “Where’s the others?” 

“Fitzsimmons are in the lab getting more supplies, May’s flying and I forced Ward to go take a shower. He’s sweet, but 48 hours without leaving my side made him smell reaaaaaaally bad.” 

Coulson stared at Skye, and took a deep breath. But as he was opening his mouth, Skye said, “Thank you for saving my life. I wasn’t sure...” She fiddled with the covers of her bed. “After the whole Miles thing.” She muttered.

“You made a mistake. I’m not going to let you die because of it.” Coulson said. He felt sick and yet relieved - May had been wrong. Skye still didn’t trust him yet. Not enough, at least, if she thought he would have just stood back and watched her drown. Clearly, she wasn’t ready for the truth yet. 

Skye yawned and her eyes fluttered closed. As she dozed off, he leaned back in his chair. He’d make Ward get a warm meal and a few hours of sleep before the agent could come sit by Skye again. Tonight Coulson could watch over her.


	2. Chapter 2

Attempt #2

To say that he was proud might have been an understatement. 

“Coulson, stop moving.” May snapped, grabbing his face with her hands and forcing him to stay still. She glanced behind her, to where Coulson was staring. Through the set of glass doors, Grant was gently taping up Skye’s broken ribs. She was grimacing slightly, trying to hide the pain. 

“I’m sure she’s fine.” May sighed. Grudgingly she added, “She performed well today.” 

“Took out three HYDRA soldiers on her own.” Coulson said, barely able to conceal his pride. “And rescued the team.”

“It’ll make base happy to know that she’s fully established her loyalties with us. And I think it’s enough to finally make Ward forget that Miles ever existed.” May gave another glance over to where Ward was staring at Skye with a look that May normally only associated with puppies. 

May stitched up Coulson in silence for a minute, then steeled herself. She knew she had to have this conversation with him, but that didn’t mean she wanted to do it. 

“Have you thought about the consequences of taking Skye onboard?” 

Coulson looked at her in surprise. 

“Of course I have. You know, I’m starting to think you have no faith in me.”

“I have faith in you. It’s her mother -” Melinda shook her head towards Skye, “that I’m not so sure of.” At Coulson’s silence, May continued. “You’re putting Skye right out in the middle of the action, where chances are she’ll be spotted.”

“I won’t let that happen.” Coulson’s voice was stern, but May pressed on.

“She fought three HYDRA soldiers today. If you think that’s going to go unnoticed, then you’re delusional.” 

“I’m not delusional, but we haven’t heard anything from Alexa since Skye was given away. She’s fallen completely off the radar. There’s even a good chance she’s dead.”

“Mothers do crazy things for their children.” 

“So do fathers.” 

“But if Alexa is alive and hears about Skye suddenly running around the country with you, knocking out HYDRA soldiers -” 

“I will handle that when it comes.”

“Is that your answer for every problem with Skye?” May put down her medical equipment in frustration. “You still haven’t told her you’re her father, you’ve been leading her on a goose chase with false information about the orphanage, and you don’t even seem to be thinking about the fact that there’ll come a day when you can’t hide the truth from her anymore.” 

Phil sighed, and he suddenly looked exhausted. May felt her resolve soften slightly. This was something Coulson had never had to deal with. It wasn’t as though SHIELD had a guide on what to do when you suddenly have a change of heart and find your long lost daughter. 

“You just shouldn’t put it off for too long. If Skye hears everything from someone other than you... She’s confused already. She could end up making the wrong decision if she doesn't get the right information at the right time.” 

“Hey AC?” 

May nearly dropped her medical equipment in alarm, and turned to see Skye standing in the doorway. The happy, unclouded look on Skye’s face told May that the young woman hadn’t heard any of the conversation between May and Coulson.

“I’m going to go check on Ward.” May said, getting up. She cast a look back at Coulson, hoping he would remember their conversation. 

“Everything okay?” Ward said as she entered the room. 

“Fine.” May began to replace her medical equipment. “Is Skye going to be okay?”

“Just a few broken ribs.”

“She got lucky.” May looked through the glass door to where Skye and Coulson were talking. She knew Coulson well enough to see his thought process as he talked to the girl. 

Skye moved to sit next to him on the table. She nudged his shoulder with hers, her smirk suddenly turning into a grimace as she clutched her shoulder. May could see blood seeping through the shirt, revealing a cut that Ward hadn’t found. Coulson grabbed bandages and began to tape up Skye’s shoulder. 

He opened his mouth, preparing to speak. Skye put her hand over his, wordlessly thanking him.

Oh dammit. 

Coulson closed his mouth, going back to taping up Skye’s shoulder in silence. 

“May? Are you okay?” Ward asked. 

“I’m fine.”

“People that are ‘fine’ normally don’t break a medical scalpel in two.”


End file.
